ah, Willingham, my all-time favorite Washington coach,.. he led them to their perfect season. They sucked before him too. I'm surprised that Mora would consider UW a better gig than UCLA. Quite a carousel ride Kiffen's started.
Willingham also cut off the recruiting ties in SoCal and I think that was a huge mistake. Mora used the talk yesterday to get a better deal from the bruins. Smart. But the talk started because....'On December 14, while the Falcons were still statistically alive in their quest for the playoffs, Mora said during a radio interview with Dave "Softy" Mahler and former Huskies teammate/roommate Hugh Millen on Seattle sports-talk radio station KJR-AM that if it were offered, he would take the head coaching job at the University of Washington (a job that was not open), "even if [the Falcons] were in a playoff run." While Mora later claimed that he was only kidding, he was criticized by many Falcons fans as well as members of the national media who claimed that making such comments was irresponsible. Team owner Arthur Blank publicly expressed his disapproval of Mora's comments." He's an alum and for some people, when home calls, you answer. I sure would.
There is a separate thread about this in the forum, but what do you think about Petersen taking the UDub job, VBall? Interesting if they went with him OVER Mora, if Mora did indeed interview for it. I personally think Sark is a good fit for SC. His teams didn't do much the last two years, so I get the apprehensions, but he'll be in his element in LA and at USC. He'll do well. Also, keep in mind that he is still young in his HC tenure, so he's growing. CStrong would have been a good choice, too, I agree.
I think Petersen is a great fit at UDub. It seems to suit his personality and I love to have his talent in the conference. I don't think Mora interviewed. He re-signed with ucla very quickly and made it clear he's in westwood for awhile. Petersen won't likely make a lot of inroads to recruiting in SoCal but I think he'll do a great job against the Pac North teams for talent in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, etc. Sark was not who I was hoping for but he's the guy so I am on board and looking at all the positives he brings. He has hit the road at full pace and it's something that few other candidates could do. He is from SoCal and he knows USC. So far he's said all the right things. We'll see.
I understand what you are getting at but...no. I really don't think Orgeron was really ever in consideration. He did an outstanding job leading our guys as an interim coach (I had totally come around on him as a candidate) but there are things about Coach O that just did not fit. As much as I find him amusing and inspirational, he's rough around the edges and I swear I can rarely understand a word he says. He talked for weeks about the Trojan Family and how our players were like "his sons". And then when he didn't get the job, he walked out on "his sons" and didn't stay to coach them in a bowl game. Was it emotion or lack of sincerity? Either one is not good. And frankly, if asked, I am not convinced that Coach O could say what his 5 and 10 year plan would be. Had we beat ucla, I truly believe Haden would still have hired someone else.
